"You are never prepared for something like this to happen… Ian defines brave."
By December 7, 2017, Bonnie Brown was ready and excited for the holidays. The wreaths hung on the windows, the tree was decorated, and the Christmas shopping was underway. But, that day, Bonnie’s holiday plans drastically changed…
Bonnie’s youngest son, Ian, wasn’t growing or gaining weight at the expected rate. As his doctor was concerned, Ian went for an MRI that afternoon. It showed that he had Craniopharyngioma – a tumor growing over his pituitary gland. Although the tumor may not have been malignant in nature, it completely devastated pituitary function in the brain. Four days later, Ian underwent a complex surgery to remove the tumor.
While the surgery went well and the tumor was successfully removed, Ian did not wake up after surgery. Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke in his hypothalamus and thalamus that caused multiple life-threatening issues in his endocrine system and required significant hormone replacements.
After a difficult, heart-wrenching eight weeks in ICU, Ian and his family came to Children’s Specialized Hospital. When he arrived, he was awake, but he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t swallow, sit-up or speak – things we take for granted every day.
Through the tireless effort of the CSH therapists on the brain injury team, Ian soon retrained and regained many functions that are taken for granted. Doctors and the brain injury team got to work right away with physical, occupational, speech, and swim therapy. With every session to include many co-treatments by his team of therapists, Bonnie recalls that her son “received individual attention and care.”
Eventually, his treatment included Burton, our therapy dog. Often in the early stages of his cognitive recovery, Ian wouldn’t remember one session to the next, but he usually remembered those with Burton. Ian began to play lacrosse with him. An athlete before his surgery, Ian’s strength and natural athletic instincts helped him progress.
After an unimaginable six months, Ian was finally able to go home and Bonnie was finally able to take her Christmas decorations down and they are settling into a new routine. Ian still comes to CSH every day for various therapies and Cognitive Rehabilitation. He struggles with memory and eyesight issues and will need to adapt to a lifelong medication schedule. But thankfully, he’s home with his family and friends and working hard on his return to school, sports and martial arts.
In Bonnie’s words, “You are never prepared for something like this to happen and we are thankful to the team at Children’s Specialized who provided a solid start to my son’s recovery and comeback. Every day is a challenge. But, every day we get through is a good day. Ian defines brave. We are proud and grateful.”
